Questions about this announcement should be directed to:
Chris Elfring, Director
Polar Research Board (HA 454)
The National Academies
2101 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20418
202-334-3426 phone
202-334-1477 fax
celfring [at] nas.edu
The Polar Research Board is pleased to announce that Professor
Patrick J. Webber of Michigan State University has agreed to serve as the
next US delegate to the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC).
IASC was founded in 1990 as a nongovernmental, international organization
with the mission of encouraging, facilitating, and promoting the full range
of basic and applied research in the Arctic, including "encouraging
cooperation and integration of human, social, and natural sciences concerned
with the Arctic at a circumarctic or international level and providing
scientific advice on arctic issues."
Professor Webber is an arctic ecologist in the Department of Botany and
Plant Pathology at Michigan State University. He brings extensive research
experience, with interests in many aspects of global change including
response of arctic tundra to temperature changes and the cumulative impacts
of large-scale development in the Arctic. He has extensive international
experience and has helped plan and implement many significant programs such
as the International Biological Program, the Comite Arctique International
Revegetation Program, the International Tundra Experiment of the Man and the
Biosphere Programme of UNESCO, and the NSF's Arctic System Science Program.
Professor Webber is replacing Oran Young, Dartmouth College, who rotated out
of the position after serving two three-year terms and making significant
contributions to IASC in its formulative years.
The Polar Research Board will be working closely with Professor Webber
during his 3-year term as US delegate to improve and increase US
participation and understanding of IASC activities. We hope to establish
new communications routes to keep the US research community better informed
of IASC activities, ensure that US priorities are considered as IASC plans
its activities and strategies, and help IASC accomplish its mission and
goals.